“Podnieks on Podnieks” is the story of a phenomenally influential Latvian documentarian who is remembered by relatively few today – but whose work was once seen by over 40 million people in the former Soviet Union. The film played last week at Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival .

That Juris Podnieks ’ films, which chronicled what he called “the death of the monster,” as the director called the last days of the Soviet Union, were seen by anyone was something of a miracle. A likely reason that happened was because he worked in the era he did, says Anna Viduleja, who co-directed “Podnieks on Podnieks” with Antra Cilinska, a former editor for Podnieks.

In fact, Podnieks, who died under mysterious circumstances in 1992, gained worldwide attention for his relentless need to “be there

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